


Reminders of Survival

by gingayellow



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-27
Updated: 2016-06-27
Packaged: 2018-07-18 14:06:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,390
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7318231
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gingayellow/pseuds/gingayellow
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A scar means that you survived, and came home. [Shiro/Keith, content warnings for past trauma/discussed violence, possible some body issues as well. This ends happily, but there are Heavy Moments]</p>
            </blockquote>





	Reminders of Survival

**Author's Note:**

> For hc_bingo, the prompt is "skeletons in the closet."

Title: Reminders of Survival  
Fandom: Voltron: Legendary Defender  
Characters/Pairing: Shiro/Keith  
Rating: PG-13  
Disclaimer: Not mine, anything mentioned here by name isn't mine  
Warnings: Past trauma, discussed violence, knives. Body image issues?  
Notes: For hc_bingo, the prompt is "skeletons in the closet."

The scars wouldn’t bother Shiro so much if he just knew where he’d gotten them.

He could make educated guesses, of course. He was certain the slash on his chest was from a sword, while the smaller one near his left hip was most likely a dagger. And the small, circular mark next to his navel was probably some sort of puncture wound—and judging from the location, it came very close to killing him.

“I have no idea how I survived a year there,” he whispered to his reflection. And considering that these were not his only scars, there were ones on his back and his legs ( _fighting, hurting, he used to be someone who avoided stepping on ants, but now…_ ), perhaps he didn’t want to know how he survived.

“Shiro?” It was Keith. “Are you ready for bed yet?”

“Almost.” He took a breath. He and Keith were working on rebuilding what they’d had before he’d been captured by the Galra, and it had been going well—simple kisses and touches, and the occasional evening alone. But tonight, they’d decided Shiro would sleep in Keith’s room, which Keith was going to see how he’d changed in full detail.

He considered tugging on the pajamas he’d brought with him… but no. He wanted what he’d had with Keith back, which that he’d see him without clothes again eventually. It would be better to work through this part now, then avoid it.

The bathroom door swished open, and Shiro made his way out in nothing but his boxers. “Hey.” He smiled.

Keith’s eyes went wide, and Shiro felt something cold through him. All he’d done was make Keith worry over him again.

He didn’t move away as Keith walked over to him, hand hovering over Shiro’s chest. “So many.”

“I know.”

Keith gave him a look. “If you’d let me finish, I would’ve added that there are so many reminders that you survived, and came back to me.”

Shiro took a moment to process that. He’d never thought of his scars that way before. “Thank you. It’s just…”

Keith took his right hand, his fingers interlacing with Shiro’s metal ones. “It’s just?”

“I don’t how I ended up this way. At all. Or what happened to me, or the people I had to…” He closed his eyes, wishing that they would stop stinging. But as much as he would like to think all the gladiators he fought were monsters like that Robeast, most of them had been like him and Matt. Lost souls doomed to fight, and maybe even die.

“Shiro, look at me.”

Somehow, he managed to do what Keith asked.

“You spared anyone you had to fight.”

“How can you—”

“Well, for starters, that creep you fought came back for round two,” Keith reminded him. “And if you showed mercy to him, I know you showed mercy to anyone else you had to fight.” Keith squeezed his hand. “Because you are the kindest man I’ve ever met, and Galra will never be able to beat that out of you.”

“Thank you,” Shiro managed. He was exhausted, but in a good way. He still didn’t remember most of the last year, but Keith believed in him. That would be enough. He squeezed Keith’s hand back, and then kissed his forehead. “We should probably get some sleep.”

“Okay.” Shiro settled onto the bed, while Keith prepped for sleep (which meant his took off his jacket, boots, and put away his knife—but he’d always preferred sleeping in his clothes, so this was not unusual).

Once Keith was curled up next to him, Shiro was able to sleep.

\--

Things were easier after that. There wasn’t too much change in their routine, aside from the fact that Shiro and Keith were sharing a room again. And it was nice, just being able to walk around Keith in short sleeves (or less) again. He hadn’t felt this much like himself in a long time, he realized one night as he was sitting on Keith’s bed in nothing but his underwear, reading through a pad on Altean time and math Allura had been kind enough to loan him—hopefully, this would make interpreting Coran’s directions easier.

Keith came in, flushed and sweaty.

“You okay?” Shiro put the pad aside.

“Yeah, I’m fine,” Keith grumbled, wiping his forehead. “I decided to get some training in before bed, without realizing Coran had turned up the difficulty without letting me know in advance.”

Shiro huffed. “This is why you shouldn’t fight alone. If you’d called me, I would’ve joined you.”

“Pfft.” Keith shrugged off his jacket, and then peeled off his shirt, and Shiro’s breath caught in his throat.

“Keith, where did you get that?!” He must’ve been hurt while Shiro was imprisoned. Because Shiro would have remembered seeing a scar that bright and long on Keith’s stomach before he left.

“Oh, that.” Keith glanced down at his stomach. “Forgot about that.”

“How could you—” Shiro got up, placing his hands on Keith’s shoulders. “Please tell me what happened.”

Keith frowned. “It’s not something I’m proud of.”

“I don’t care. It’s you.” Something terrible, possibly life-threatening, had happened to Keith, and he hadn’t been there.

He pulled away, rubbing the back of his neck. “Well. I already told you I was a mess after you. You know.” Shiro didn’t know what to say, so he simply nodded.

Keith glanced up at Shiro, for a moment. “I was at a diner. And I overheard some guys talking about you.” His eyes flashed with anger. “Talking about how you messed up the Kerberos mission, when you and both know you would have never—”

“Keith. Let’s focus on what happened next.”

“I did my best to ignore them, I really did. And in fact, I was about to leave when one them said that Galaxy Garrison was going to lose their funding because their pilot didn’t deserve his position.”

“So you nearly got killed. Because you wanted to protect a missing man’s reputation.”

“Shiro, Galaxy Garrison wanted to pretend you were dead. All these people I believed in, I **trusted** suddenly didn’t even want to mention you by name, unless it was about the ‘grievous error’ you made.”

Shiro was still more than a little mad, but he reached out, tracing the side of Keith’s face.

“I’m sorry. But you gave them everything, and this is how people were treating you. I snapped.”

Keith motioned to his scar. “So, I punched him in the gut. And kicked him in the knee. And when he got out his knife, I got mine. I was doing pretty well, until his friend grabbed me, and well.” He ran a finger along his scar. “There was a lot of blood, but I managed to avoid getting arrested.”

“Also, not dying.” Honestly.

Keith smiled sheepishly. “Yeah. That was good, too.”

Shiro didn’t have it in him to smile back. “I’m sorry you had to endure that, but next time, just so you know? I do **not** want you getting into fights to protect my honor or whatever.” He reached out again, pushing Keith’s bangs out of his face. “You matter way more to me.”

He knew he’d reached Keith, because Keith all but thudded into him—something he did only when he felt guilty. Shiro took a moment to appreciate how familiar that felt, stroking Keith’s hair… but it was time to move on.

“C’mon. It’s bed time.”

Keith broke away. “Just lemme grab a shower first.”

“Of course.” That gave Shiro just enough time to turn down the covers.

When he returned, Shiro took a moment to appreciate the sight of Keith in nothing but pants, but that didn’t deter him from getting into bed—they both had an early day ahead of them.

Keith settled in next to him. “I didn’t mean to worry you,” he mumbled sleepily.

“I’m not worried anymore,” Shiro assured him. “Now it’s just a reminder that you survived, and came back to me.”

He smiled when he felt Keith kiss his neck before falling asleep.


End file.
